Smoothing planes...#4, #4.5 or #5....Which one?

[RyMcJe]

Hey Y'all. This is my first post here and I'm hoping some of you can help. Apologies if this has been discussed before.

I'm typically a power tool man when it comes to woodworking but I've begun learning about becoming a hybrid woodworker and picking up a hand plane. After seeing others' results I'd like to see if I can use one to solve some challenges I have. Specifically wood coming off the jointer. On some occasions I can get "chatter" on the face or edges (mainly edges) of my workpiece. I recently tuned up my jointer with properly set new blades along with a tune up on the infeed and outfeed table...but the chatter seems to still happen....especially in highly figured wood.

This may be how things go in woodworking but I'm thinking that a smoothing plane might get the joint to where I want it to be on these trouble boards. Let me know if y'all agree. If you do then I'm looking at getting a one. However the size selection is somewhat nebulous. Can any of you recommend what a standard size would be.........#4, #4.5 or even a #5? What is the difference between them and what would be recommended as the most versatile?

Thanks!

[RenaissanceWW]

For your purposes (and actually for many purposes) I would go with the smallest footprint smoother you can get. That may be a #4 or even a #3. There are some great small wooden plane smoothers out there too. I'm probably over complicating here so go with the #4. The larger the sole the flatter your surface has to be to get wispy thin shavings that you want for producing a finish ready surface. It sounds like you want to "spot plane" the boards and that may be hard to do with a longer/wider sole. Certainly greater mass helps propel the plane along but I personally don't think it makes that big a difference when it comes to quality of the cut.

[Morton]

There's a reason the #4 is by far the most popular vintage plane available - it's a really great all-arounder. You won't regret owning one even if you move on to some other ones. It's super useful for all kinds of tasks around the shop and house.

[JohnnyNoName]

+1 on the #4

I prefer the smaller smoothers. The first smoother I bought was the Lee-Valley Bevel-Up Smoother. It works very well, but it did take a while to smooth the boards (refer to Shannon's post). It is also on the heavy sde. I then bought a vintage Stanley #3. I am glad I did. I can smooth a board faster and with less effot. I still like my LV smoother, but the #3 is now my go to smoother.

Jonathan

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[Howtoworkwood]

Another +1 for the #4.

If you're planing alot of highly figured woods you will want to change the blade angle so your combined angle of attack (when taking in the bed angle and the honing angle) is around 50 degrees.

So say on a 12 degree low angle smoothing plane you would want to have a 38 degree honing angle on the blade.

The 50 degree angle of attack is supposed to be the best combination of ease of use and reduction of tear out in figured woods.

[mds2]

I own two planes and havent been using them very long so take this for what it is worth.

I bought a pretty nice stanely #4 at a thrift store for $9 and I love it. It really is good all around.

[RyMcJe]

Thanks everyone for you insight. Seems to be a consensus on the #4. That makes things easier for me since this will be my first plane and I want to get a good all-arounder as mentioned.

I'm gonna leave this post open a bit longer before I make a purchase. Incredibly helpful...keep it coming.